February 26th, 2011

In an earlier thread on Palin-hatred, a discussion ensued in the comments section about the fact that a great many conservative female politicians are hated, not just Palin. Michelle Bachmann, for example.

For the sake of a scientific test that holds unimportant variables steady, can anyone point out a single counter-balancing example, i.e. is there anywhere to be found a conservative woman with all the right (Ivy League education, etc) credentials who is or isn’t despised?

First, a little clarification on the meaning of the word “despised,” “to regard with contempt or scorn.” That implies not just hatred, but a looking down from above, a hierarchy in which the despiser believes the despisee to be not only intensely dislikable but also markedly inferior. That describes liberal attitudes towards both Palin and Bachmann.

And so I offer as a possible candidate for a non-despised conservative woman: Liz Cheney. Now my guess is that she isn’t intensely hated yet only because she flies somewhat under the radar screen at the moment, and that if she ever became more popular or ran for office it might be different and she would draw a huge amount of ire. They certainly hated her father.

But I don’t think they despised him; his formidable intellect was respected, and I think it would be that way with his daughter, who is low-key in her delivery, attractive but not glam, articulate, and hyper-intelligent. She would be seen by the left as the evil genius rather than the evil stupidhead, rather like the difference between her father and GW Bush in their eyes.

Palin, of course, would be in the Bush position, squared. Or perhaps cubed.

18 Responses to “What about Liz Cheney?”

I disagree. I’ve seen some horrible things said and printed by the Left about Liz Cheney. You are correct that she’s a little under the radar, but those on the Left who are aware of her have no problem spewing their bile her way.

Deeka: Yes, I’ve seen a few very hateful things. But I’m not saying she isn’t hated by a few people already, and that she won’t be hated by many more if she becomes more prominent. I’m saying she isn’t looked down on (despised), as Palin and Bachmann and many many other conservative women are.

As you have noted Neo, liberals think they are smarter than everyone else. Bachmann & Palin are not Ivy League certified ‘intelligent’ and they don’t come from the wealthy class; therefore they must be stupid. Liz Cheney is different because she comes with a pedigree liberals can recognize even if they hate her message.

Despite all their claims to adhere to egalitarianism, liberals are extremely class conscious. They look down on the working poor and the middle class, even if they themselves are middle class. For the most part, liberals are either upper class snobs or wish they were upper class snobs, or they wish they were wealthy & successful former members of one of their chosen, sainted, down trodden minority groups.

To a liberal no one could be more esteemed than a moslem transgender lesbian eskimo with a PhD in poli-sci from Harvard who is making millions per year as a syndicated columnist/author and is a regular participate on a Sunday morning news discussion panel. (Please note: I have nothing against moslem transgender lesbian eskimos.)

When Liz Cheney engages the enemy to the same degree as Sarah Palin does she’ll have the same battle scars that Sarah Palin does.

I really admire Liz Cheney. She is tough, she is smart, she doesn’t take any **** from anyone. I really hope that she runs for elected office someday and/or holds a prominent position in a future administration – maybe even her own administration.

With every passing week we are treated to example after example of Palin being in the vanguard of opposition not only to Obama, but to progressivism in general. And she is doing a very, very good job of it.

For those who are thinking of running for president, or are supporting someone who is thinking of running for president had best consider that the 2012 election cycle began the day Sarah Palin quit as Governor of Alaska. She has a big head start on them, and Obama has only himself to blame for poking the bear once too often. She likely would have stayed in Alaska and run for reelection if she wasn’t hounded to the point of bankruptcy – literally.

What’s past is prologue.

The last time she was boxed in politically, she quit as head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Commission. What followed was her ascent to the Governor’s office, and quite a few trips by those who crossed her to prison for what they were doing – not out of retribution, but out of enforcement of the law.

Dismiss her, diminish her, discount her all you want but as far as this observer is concerned that woman is focused on one thing right now – making Barack Obama unemployed.

And it would be absolutely fantastic if Liz Cheney found herself involved in a Palin administration – and not at a lower level as she was in the Bush administration, either.

neo, maybe the experiment needs to be defined better. I really didn’t lay out the parameters very well. Still, going with it…

I’m guessing that you allow University of Chicago Law as a suitably Ivy League school. (Not sure I would, and her undergrad clearly wasn’t.) She is from the American political class, so that puts her in a different group than Palin. But though she’s conservative in some ways, she also takes positions that find favorable review in the left-world.

For example, I searched HuffPo and ran across a couple of possible headline examples: “Liz Cheney: ‘It’s Time’ To Repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and “Liz Cheney: Bush Administration To Blame For North Korea Aggression (VIDEO).” I don’t think these really get her much slack.

A Google search for “despise Liz Cheney” got a bit more than 62,000 hits including a 2005 post with a nice lefty title, “Filthy GOP Whore Liz Cheney Still Hooking For Dad,” and “The 100 Americans The Left Hates Most.” (She ranks #35, this list may be self-serving since it’s on Beck’s page, and he’s #1.) Democraticunderground has 866 posts for the same search.

After considering it some, I think there’s a dividing line drawn between talking-heads and political activists by thoughtful haters. Someone who just talks is not seen as an immediate threat as, for example, Scott Walker is. He’s probably high on the list now though he was no where near it two weeks ago.

LAG: I noticed that a search for “despise” and then the names includes times when that person used the word “despise,” or when someone says “despise” and the person’s name on the same page. A better test, I think, is to search for the phrase in quotes.

neo, I’m glad your safe! I rank your efforts up there with all the other great conservative ladies.

I considered your search tactic, but decided to go for gross magnitudes and a single pass through. Too many variations to search otherwise (despise, despised, despising, plus synonyms, etc) and no good way to evaluate the results.

I do wonder if there would be a significant shift in the order if the search was repeated for all?

The left’s initial reaction to anyone not like themselves is to denigrate their intelligence or mock their way of speaking. E.g. Palin, Bush II, Bush I, Quayle, Reagan, Ford, Agnew, Eisenhower. All of those just listed were intelligent thoughtful people; but to those in a fantasy based community, it doesn’t matter. Those who can’t be denigrated are hated in a deeper manner, e.g. Cheney, Nixon, Coulter. They are treated as the devil’s spawn itself; unmitigatedly evil.

1) As others have posted above, she doesn’t quite have the “elite” credentials needed to be a Democratic candidate. (And when I say “Democratic candidate”, I of course refer to non-black, non-Hispanic candidates). The Left will find a way to rip her for this, short of calling her illiterate like they do with Palin (because in their minds, one would have to be illiterate or be afflicted with Down Syndrome to settle for a state college education).

2) Cheney=Hitler. The hatred of her father will quickly be transferred to Liz.

3) Instead of being praised by the “progressive” Left as a lesbian attempting to gain a prominent role in national politics, she will be denigrated in the same manner as black Republicans. Like with the taunts of “house n****r” aimed at black Republicans, she’ll be thought of as a “traitor” to her “race”. (Yes, I’m referring to the “gay race”, which does exist in the minds of race-obsessed liberals everywhere).

It really is sad to watch all this ‘hate’ and ‘contempt’ and ‘despising’ of other people in this socalled ‘enlightened age’.
David Solway quite accurately points out that by far the most hate and contempt and despising of other people today comes from the left. When I go to US leftist websites I see the same kind of hatred and contempt as in the old Nazi press.
And I agree with Solway that the hatred on the right is also real, but far lower in amount and intensity.
This all does not bode well for the US and the world.
What ever happened to ‘faith, hope and love’? It seems to be exchanged for ‘distrust, despair and hate’.
Very sad indeed.

About Me

Previously a lifelong Democrat, born in New York and living in New England, surrounded by liberals on all sides, I've found myself slowly but surely leaving the fold and becoming that dread thing: a neocon. Read More >>